Dear Alice

Your beauty problems solved

In the first of a new column for Beauty Bazaar online, our agony aunt Alice Hart-Davis answers readers questions on every aspect of their face and figure.

First up, to lift or not to lift...

Dear Alice, Ive been thinking about getting my boobs done - where should I go?

First of all, are you absolutely sure you want to have them done? To have a surgical operation, with all the potential risks that entails? Even after last years PIP scandal? (Not of course, that youre planning to go for some dodgy clinic dealing in suspiciously-cheap implants )

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If you really, really do, and I know that breast implants are still the most popular procedure out there, first things first: take the time to do your homework.

Ask around  granted, your friends may not be in a rush to tell you, but if you ask on behalf of a friend, they may have a friend of their own who knows a brilliant surgeon. Find some names (look for surgeons who are members of BAAPS  the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery). Look them up. Check their qualifications. Do they specialize in breast reshaping? Thats not to say there arent some people who do great breast work as well as all the faces and noses and thighs and tummy tucks that they work on, but it might be just as well to choose someone whos made breasts his or her lifes work.

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Read up on the options online, to learn about the different ways of doing procedures, and the different types of implant; bear in mind you may just need a lift, rather than implants, to repoint your assets.

Then, when you make an appointment for a consultation, you will know the questions to ask. Go and see at least two surgeons for a preliminary consultation, to discuss what you are after and to see if you like him or her. Yes, this costs, but this is an area where you want expertise rather than economy.

I wouldnt recommend going to one of the chains of surgical clinics. You are unlikely to meet the surgeon who will operate on you, but will be consulted by someone who may seem to be more of a salesperson.

And please dont go abroad for surgery unless youre convinced of the surgeons brilliance and you have the cash to fly back and forth should, heaven forfend, there be complications.

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